Obama to call for cuts in US nuclear weapons

Date: February 12 2013

Peter Foster

Washington: Barack Obama is expected to propose sweeping new cuts to America's nuclear weapons arsenal Tuesday night when he delivers his annual State of Union address, arms control experts said, as the re-elected President searches for a legacy from his second term.

The proposal to cut the US strategic warhead arsenal by up 40 per cent could save billions of dollars and take America another step closer to the long-term goal - avowed by Mr Obama in his landmark speech in Prague in 2009 - of a nuclear-free world.

Although Mr Obama is not expected to give precise numbers in his speech, reports yesterday claimed that the number of warheads could be cut from 1700 to as low as 1000, if a mutual agreement can be secured with Russia.

Mr Obama believes that "pretty radical reductions" can be made to the arsenal, a left-over from the Cold War, and US military leaders have "signed off" on the proposed reductions, the New York Times reported, citing anonymous administration officials.

"These numbers ring true," Steven Pifer, a former State Department official and director of the Arms Control Initiative at the Brookings Institution, said. Mr Pifer added that 1000 warheads was the minimum amount required to maintain the "triad" of US strategic nuclear defence, comprising land-based missiles, strategic bombers and submarine-launched missiles.

Under the current New START treaty, the US and Russia have agreed to cut strategic warheads to 1550 by early 2018, but Mr Obama's proposals would significantly accelerate that process.

"The 1000 number fits because, according to my conversations with the Russian arms control community, that is minimum they can accept without drawing in other nuclear nations like France and Britain, which would greatly complicate the process," said Mr Pifer.

There are some grounds for optimism that Moscow will agree to the new target. "The 1000 limit could be attractive to Russia because their existing systems are retiring and they are facing having to invest just to keep at the 1550 level agreed in New START," Mr Pifer added.

The New START treaty includes only strategic weapons, with the total US arsenal - including tactical and other non-strategic nuclear weapons - estimated at approximately 5000 warheads. The UK has approximately 200 submarine-based warheads, with plans to reduce that number to 120.